


The Start of Something?

by AngelWithAStory



Series: Kidnap and Rescue [10]
Category: X-Ray & Vav (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coercion, Drabble, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kidnapping, Mutual Pining, Rare Pairings, Slow Burn, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-12 20:04:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4492911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWithAStory/pseuds/AngelWithAStory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well I’m afraid I can’t help you there.” Hilda said. “I have a date tonight.”<br/>“Wait, what?” X-Ray said, looking up in surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Inkling of a Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> so I recently discovered that I wasn't alone in shipping hildray (shoutout to [dragonastra](http://dragonastra.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for coming up with a name) and I have literally no excuse
> 
>  
> 
> ~~I'm not sorry~~

“Where’s your friend?” Hilda asked the very bored X-Ray, tinkering with something on her desk that she said would either increase the range of his x-ray beams or the strength of them or something. He really tuned out once she started talking about the science part of it.

“Going through files with Ash.” X-Ray muttered, sat cross-legged on one of Hilda’s work counters. He was playing with something that looked a bit like a Rubix cube, but had two more sides and was ‘ _bullshit_ ’, as X-Ray kept muttering to himself.

“Is that bitterness I hear?” Hilda asked, a knowing smirk on her face.

“No.” X-Ray said. “I’m just annoyed that I have to patrol the city by myself.”

“Well I’m afraid I can’t help you there.” Hilda said. “I have a date tonight.”

“Wait, what?” X-Ray said, looking up in surprise.

“You think my life revolves around this company?” Hilda asked, a tone of amusement in her voice.

“Well, yeah.” X-Ray admitted, going back to the weird Rubix cube. “Who’s the guy?”

“Why do you want to know?” Hilda asked.

“Geez, I can’t make conversation?” X-Ray replied, huffing in annoyance.

“Well, either way, your new glasses are done. I just need to adjust them to your face.” Hilda said, holding up the glasses. The frames were slightly thicker to accommodate for the new technology but she’d made sure that the prescription for the lenses was the same as the current pair he was wearing.

She walked over to where X-Ray was and he looked up at her, took his glasses off and sat patiently. Hilda carefully placed the new glasses on X-Ray’s face. She frowned as she took in where she had to adjust them, running her hands down the arms of the glasses slowly, feeling where they didn’t quite fit right.

“Is this comfortable?” Hilda asked absently, leaning back a bit to judge by sight how the glasses were sitting. She almost completely missed the look on X-Ray’s face. “X-Ray?”

“They feel fine.” He said, pulling away and adjusting the glasses himself. Hilda let a small smile creep up on her and took the glasses off his face, replacing them with the old pair.

“Then I’ll just do some final tests to make sure they’re safe.” Hilda said, turning away and walking over to her workstation.  “The bathroom’s over there if you need a minute.” She said, gesturing lazily to the direction of the door.

“Ha ha, very funny.” X-Ray drawled, picking up the 8-sided Rubix cube.

“You don’t have to stay here, you know. I can probably get these to you for tomorrow.” Hilda said, looking at the vigilante over her shoulder.

“Eh, I’ve got nothing else to do.” X-Ray said, shrugging easily.

“No city to save?” Hilda said sarcastically. X-Ray shrugged again, not looking up from the toy he was furiously trying to solve. Hilda turned back to her work, hiding her smile.


	2. Date Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am unstoppable when it comes to this ship.  
> also, it's sad that this makes up exactly 1/2 of all the hildray ships on the site.

Hilda stood up and shook the hand of the man who was meant to be her date. Her hair was pinned up in a bun and she had dressed in one of the few dresses she owned. The man looked like her was dressed for a business meeting, with the exception of very strong cologne that would have had _no place_ in the workplace..

“It’s nice to meet you, Hilda.” The man said, taking his seat and looking at her expectantly.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She said, picking up the menu. “So what do you do?” Hilda asked, looking at her date over the top of the laminated card.

“I work in marketing.” The man said. He started talking about all the campaigns he spearheaded, and in all honesty, Hilda stopped listening. She regretted saying ‘ _yes_ ’ to the date, and all she wanted to do was to go home, take off the stupid dress and stupid shoes and play on her Xbox for a while.

What she didn’t count on was the vigilante being thrown through the window of the restaurant.

The shards of glasses covered half the floor and Hilda instantly ducked down, using the menu as an improvised shield. Her date threw himself off his chair and hid under the table. Hilda crouched off her chair, peaking over the edge of the table. She almost groaned loudly when she saw the bright blue hero stand up with the bright green one being thrown through the now empty window pane.

She saw Mogar across the street, struggling with someone, seeing a glint of the metal in the dark as he swung his sword. Hilda kneeled on the floor, facing her date, who was pale and looking a bit more than terrified.

“Well, this is just  _great_ ,” Hilda said distractedly, leaning up to watch the vigilantes over the table top. She just peeked over the table but she still saw Vav meet her eye.

“Miss Hilda?” Vav asked, in surprise. His eyes widened when he remembered. “Your date!” He accidentally said in surprise.

“Wait, you knew?” X-Ray demanded, a strange tone in his voice.

“Wait, you know X-Ray and Vav?” The date asked, also looking wide-eyed but at Hilda.

“Kind of?” Hilda said uncertainly. “I help them with their gear.” She admitted.

“You need to get out of here. “Vav insisted, helping Hilda to her feet and trying to gently push her in the direction of the back exit (where everyone else in the restaurant had run to already). “X-Ray, take them somewhere safe.” He ordered.

“What?! Why do I have to do that?” X-Ray demanded.

“Do you want to be left to fight with Mogar?” Vav asked, fixing X-Ray with the look. X-Ray just sighed and looked towards Hilda and her date.

“We need to go.” He said, hurrying the two out the back door. Hilda quickly grabbed her purse and started after X-Ray, not waiting for her date to follow. They had to go through the kitchen to find the door that lead to the alleyway beside them.

“Why didn’t you tell me you helped superheroes?” The man said, pulling Hilda aside a little. He kept looking at X-Ray with a strange expression on his face.

“That’s really more of a third date conversation.” Hilda said.

“Hey,” X-Ray said, getting bother their attentions. “Are you guys going to be okay from here?” He asked, looking more to Hilda than to her date.

“We can handle this from here.” Hilda said, reaching into her purse and pulling out her homemade lazer gun. X-Ray smiled at her. It almost looked like a proud smile, or maybe he was just remembering the gun from how they met and remembered it fondly.

“Okay then. See you later.” X-Ray said, walking back to the street and the fight. Hilda watched him for a moment, until her date coughed next to her.

“Should we just get a coffee and call it a night?” He asked, smiling charmingly at her. Hilda let the gun hang by her side.

“That sounds like a plan.” She said brightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how you can tell _just_ how lazy I am when it comes to writing OC characters


	3. Tension Builds... Slowly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I did the third chapter! 
> 
> warning, minor spoiler for the latest episode - as in it mentions a name of a character that appears in it.

“Hey Hilda.” X-Ray said, walking into her lab and hopping up onto a counter. He picked up the Bullshit Rubix and picked up from where he left off, distracting himself entirely from the other person in the room. Hilda was engrossed in doing something on a small tablet in her hands.

“Greetings, X-Ray, how are you functioning today?” ORF asked, floating into view.

“Oh, hey, ORF. I’m doing pretty good.” X-Ray said, looking up at the friendly robot.

“ORF, when’s our morning meeting?” Hilda asked, finally looking up from the tablet.

“In exactly thirty-two minutes.” ORF said, brightly (as-per usual). Hilda nodded and locked the tablet, walking over to the wall with all the equipment she designed. She pulled down the pair of glasses she was working on yesterday.

“Here.” Hilda said, holding them out to X-Ray. He looked up at her and took the glasses, quickly swapping them out.

“How’d your date go?” X-Ray asked, leaning back on the workbench and looking at her.

“It was nice.” Hilda admitted. “But I don’t think he’ll get a second date.”

“Why not?”

Hilda shrugged, not looking at him.

“It just won’t work out.” She said, non-committedly. “I have too much going on with the company and my work and it’s just not a good time to be dating.”

X-Ray just nodded, going back to the toy, but with a lot less enthusiasm.

“How’d the fight go?” Hilda asked.

“It was fine.” X-Ray said.

“Who were you even fighting?” Hilda said, keeping her back to the vigilante.

“Some thieves.” X-Ray admitted.

“You were thrown through a window.” Hilda pointed out.

“They were _strong_!” X-Ray insisted, momentarily forgetting the toy. Hilda laughed and the tension in the air seemed to lighten for a moment.

“So how’d your search for the escaped Mad King going?” Hilda asked, finally turning around and looking at X-Ray.

“Slow. Thank fuck Vav’s doing most of the research.” X-Ray said, a small smile on his face. “And at least he gets to spend time with Ash so he can get used to being around her.”

“Still coaching him?” Hilda asked, reflecting his smile.

“He just can’t seem to talk to girls!” X-Ray said.

“He talks to me.” Hilda pointed out. “And ORF.”

“First of all, ORF is a robot.” X-Ray said, gesturing to the floating robot with his thumb. “And second of all, you don’t count.”

“Why don’t I count?” Hilda asked, more amused than anything as the sudden change in the vigilante’s posture.

“You’re just different.” X-Ray said, shrugging. “You’re Hilda.”

“How sweet.” Hilda said, teasingly.

“Look, I’m not here to talk about that mushy feelings stuff, okay.” X-Ray said flippantly. “I just wanted to ask if you’re free to do co-op tonight or what?”

“If you don’t have anything better to do.” Hilda said. “Though, I don’t know what time I’ll be able to leave tonight.”

“That’s cool, just keep me posted.” X-Ray said.

“Alert! The meeting is in five minutes.” ORF said.

“I have to go. Don’t blow up my lab.” Hilda said, leaving the lab with ORF right behind her. X-Ray just smiled and looked down at the toy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: clichés and MEGA FLUFF


	4. Late Night Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because I love you all, here's the fourth chapter :3
> 
> next chapter the cutesy clichés will really begin ^_^

Hilda looked down at all the papers she had to file and sign and contracts she had to look over and sighed. The sky outside was pitch black and most of the company had already gone home. The only people left were the night security guards, herself. ORF had gone back to her apartment and powered down several hours ago. She’d long since sent X-Ray a message apologising and cancelling their plans to play together.

Hilda contemplated just leaving all of the papers until the morning, but then she knew that she’d just have to do them in the very limited free time she had to work in her lab. It was better to just lose a couple hours sleep and run on coffee.

Someone knocked on the door and Hilda assumed it was a security guard checking if she was still alive.

“Come in.” Hilda called out, slouching in her chair. The door opened and Hilda looked up.

X-Ray was stood in the doorway, a pizza box in one hand as he opened the heavy wooden door with the other.

“Hey.” He said, walking into the office and letting the door close behind him. “I got your message. Thought you might be hungry.” Hilda smiled at him and X-Ray could see how tired she was.  

“You didn’t have to do that.” Hilda said, sitting up straighter. X-Ray just shrugged, placing the pizza box on a clean corner of the desk.

“Eh, I had nothing better to do.” He said, pulling up a hard-backed chair and sitting on the other side of the desk. X-Ray slowly opened the lid of the box, making dramatic noises as the pizza was revealed. Hilda smiled and took the first slice, being careful not to mess up any of the papers. X-Ray did the same, resting his feet on the other empty corner of the desk. Hilda just looked at him and he almost retracted his feet, until she did the same. Hilda’s small smirk drew a laugh out of him as she leaned back in her chair, stretching out luxuriously.

They finished the food between them and Hilda sat upright again, gathering the papers towards her and straightening them.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. It’ll take me about an hour to finish this.” Hilda said, looking up at Ray over the edge of her glasses.

“It’s cool, I brought distractions.” X-Ray said, pulling a portable console out of his overundies. Hilda nodded and went back to her paperwork. X-Ray watched her for a few seconds before he started up the console, keeping the sound as low as it could be, causally playing through his game. He kept glancing up at Hilda, whose glasses kept slipping down her nose and she read the print on the paper.

He really wished he hadn’t noticed that she looked nice with her hair up.

“Hm?” Hilda asked, looking up. X-Ray looked at her in confusion before he realised that he’d spoken out loud.

“Nothing. Just, mad about this game.” He said, quickly flashing her the screen and going back to the battle he was in. Hilda nodded and went back to her work, noting the way Ray bowed his head and didn’t want to look at her.

When she’d signed the last page of a merger contract, Hilda slipped the stack of papers into her briefcase and stood up.

“Well, that’s that done.” She said, casting a glance at the clock. Somehow it was already the early hours of the morning. Hilda knew that the couch in her office was comfortable enough to sleep on, and that there was a change of clothes and a shower in the executive bathroom. She would have just slept in her office if it wasn’t for X-Ray. Hilda looked over at him and smiled when she saw he’d fallen asleep in the chair.

She walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder. He stirred, straightening his glasses and looked up at her.

“You ready to go?” He asked, getting up off the chair and stretching as subtly as he could. X-Ray picked up the pizza box and his game console, looking at Hilda expectantly.

“Yeah,” Hilda said, opening the door to her office for the both of them. “You know you can crash at my place tonight. It’s not that far from here.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” X-Ray said, following Hilda to the lift, looking out for somewhere to dump the pizza box.

“If you insist.” Hilda said. “I assume I’m going to see you sometime tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” X-Ray asked, looking at her with a small frown on his face.

“It just seems like something’s going on between you two right now.” Hilda said innocently. “Wanna talk about it?” She asked.

“There’s nothing going on.” X-Ray said, stepping out when the lift doors opened. “Do you want me to, I dunno, walk with you to your apartment building?” He asked awkwardly, standing on the street by the front doors to the building.

“I think I can take it from here, X-Ray.” Hilda said, a little smile on her face. “I still have my huge tazer.” She said. She leaned towards him and quickly pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“Wow, what was that for?” X-Ray asked, stepping back and absently raising a hand to where she’d kissed him.

“For the pizza,” Hilda said simply. “And for keeping me company.”

“You could have just said thank you.” He mumbled. A gentle blush brushed his cheeks and Hilda just touched his shoulder. She walked away, taking the pizza box off the vigilante and placing it in the nearest dumpster.

The smile on her face didn’t want to seem to leave any time soon. 


	5. Stolen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~no regrets~~

The phone wouldn’t stop ringing and it was pissing X-Ray off. He pulled himself out of his bed and went over to where his phone was. Vav. Of course.

“Why’d you wake me up, asshole?” X-Ray asked, yawning.

“She’s missing.” Vav said. He sounded distressed, and more than usual.

“Who’s missing?”

“Hilda.”

X-Ray felt something come over him. Something that was equal parts fear and fury.

“What do you mean?” X-Ray demanded.

“I mean she’s not at her bloody apartment or at her office and she isn’t picking up her phone.” Vav said, anger creeping into his voice.

“Hang on, I’m on my way.” X-Ray said, ending the call. He pulled on his uniform as quickly as he could and left.

 

Hilda’s office was _destroyed_. It wasn’t a bit of mess and an overturned chair; Hilda’s office barely looked like a room. There were burn marks at various places around the rooms (from her homemade tazer probably), the walls were scratched so much that it splintered and showed wiring in some places, the furniture was smashed and lying in pieces. One one wall, someone had spray painted a simplified crown.  

It was hard to look at.

“Bloody hell.” Vav hissed, picking his way over the debris. Ash stood in the doorway, taking pictures, looking around with more morbid curiosity than horror.

“The Mad King.” X-Ray said, studying the graffitti. “He owned this company before Hilda took over.”

“Yeah, you think he’s behind this?” Vav said, turning to look at X-Ray.

“Who else could it _be_ , Vav?” X-Ray asked. “Maybe he’s planning something else and he needs Hilda? She _is_ a genius!”

“Oh god, they could be anywhere!” Vav exclaimed.

“Have you guys read this?” Ash asked, holding up a piece of paper that had been pinned to a wall with a short dagger.

X-Ray reached her first, taking the paper and scanning it.

‘ _Hilda is the one in the Hole_ ’

Vav took the paper off him, reading it himself.

“What the fuck is wrong with that guy?” X-Ray said, rubbing his hand over his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun...


	6. The Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to all the people who are still reading this: I love you all and I hope good things happen to you :D

Hilda woke up in a sterile white room that she thought she  _should_ recognise, but couldn’t. Three walls were white tile, while one was made of glass panels with breathing holes and with only a thin rectangle outline to tell where the door was.

She realised she was on a low bed and sat up, looking at the room beyond the glass. There was someone moving about, she realised, who looked like they were wearing some kind of skirt. Hilda moved so she sat on the edge of the bed and squinted at the figure. They turned around and walked closer to the glass.

Hilda couldn’t help but roll her eyes when she realised.

“Ugh, really? You again?” Hilda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

The Mad King just smiled at her coldly.

“Aw, you could  _try_ and sound more excited.” He said, standing opposite her, arms behind his back.

“You just kidnapped me.  _Why_ would I be excited?” Hilda questioned, glaring at him from her spot.

“Because now you have chance to let things go back to the way they were.” The Mad king said. “Make things go back to before you met X-Ray and Vav. You wouldn’t have to run Monarch Labs, you would have free rein of your own department. You could invent to your heart’s desire, uninterrupted by vigilantes.” He made it sound tempting. As if that was something Hilda didn’t realise she wanted until he told her.

“Why would I want that?” Hilda demanded, keeping her voice cold. She knew there was some catch somewhere.

“Because you _miss_ it.” The Mad King said. “You miss just being a genius and tinkering away all day with your little robotic friend. You miss not being dragged into those incompetent superhero’s bullshit.”

“And why do you care? I was always replaceable to you.” Hilda said, her glare turning colder. “You  _fired_ me, remember?”

“This could be your chance to prove yourself.” He said.

“What do you get out of my help, anyway?” Hilda asked, a small voice nagging at her.

“Why, I get to get rid of anyone who opposes me. I get back my company and get rid of X-Ray and Vav when we’re done.” He said, gesturing grandly. “So what do you say?”

_Get rid of X-Ray and Vav_

Those words echoed in her head and her glare sharpened.

“I say go find yourself another genius.” Hilda said, shifting back so her back was against the wall.

“Suit yourself.” The Mad King said flippantly, turning back around to his work bench. “You’ll do just fine as bait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit torn between a few ways the story could go, so I'll see how it goes honestly :/


	7. Forming a Rescue Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially an AU and I'm loving. 
> 
> I even have an idea for a sequel tbh...

“Yup, that’s the Mad King.” Rusty said, putting down the paper with the cryptic message and looking at the rest of them. Vav had been the one to contact Mogar, who had turned up much faster than they expected. Now the five of them stood around a table, waiting for Rusty to reveal the next clue. “And he’s still batshit crazy, I see.”  

“Yeah, yeah, does this give us any clues on how to find Hilda?” X-Ray said, looking at Rusty impatiently.

“Look, I’m no miracle worker,” Rusty said, “but I remember hearing something about the Mad King’s Hole.”

“Ew, gross dude.” X-Ray said immediately. “We don’t need to know about that.”

“I don’t think he means anything like _that_.” Ash said. “Do you?” She added, looking at Rusty wearily, worried in case she was wrong.

“It was part of a Monarch Labs facility.” Rusty said, ignoring the interruptions. He looked through his papers and found the blueprint he was looking for, spreading it out on the small table in front of him. He pointed to a part in the middle where the plans stopped, creating an almost perfect square of empty space. “See this area, according to the city, there’s nothing there. The only thing anyone knows about it is that he calls it the Hole.”

“So where is the facility?” Ash asked. 

“No one knows.” Rusty said. “The only thing that says it exists are the blueprints.”

“So how do we find it?” Vav asked, looking at the blueprints closely. It looked like he was trying to memorise it.

“There must be some way to track her.” Ash said. “Her phone or something.”

“Maybe Bear-Boy over there could track her scent.” X-Ray joked, nodding to Mogar, who scowled back at him.

“Her scent is not strong enough now.” Mogar said. “Mogar would have to have something of hers to be able to find her.”

“Wait, you can actually do that?” Ash asked, looking at Mogar in surprise.  

“We could go to her apartment and try to find something.” X-Ray said, trying to mask the hope in his voice.  

“Would you do that, Mogar?” Vav asked, turning to face Mogar. Mogar just nodded solemnly.

“Well let’s _go_  then.” X-Ray said.

 

Hilda’s apartment was untouched. In fact, it looked clean. Pristine, even. Compared to her office, it looked  _wrong_.

X-Ray poked around, trying to find something that could give them some kind of clue. He’d been with her the night before (that morning? A few hours ago?)  and now she was kidnapped and held God knows where.

“Bugger me!” Vav shouted in surprise from the other room, snapping X-Ray out of his thoughts.

“What is it?” Ash asked, going over to where he was. She looked at where he was pointing and clasped her hand over her mouth. X-Ray walked until he stood beside her and felt his anger spike.

ORF wasn’t okay.

ORF wasn’t even in one piece. It looked like they’d gone into ‘ _battle_ ’ mode, but then someone had beaten them until they broke into pieces.  

“ORF…” Vav breathed, looking down at the robotic being mournfully. Mogar had walked up to them and looked at the shards of circuiting and metal. He crouched down and gently ran his fingers over the mess, barely disturbing it. It looked like he was inspecting it.

“Not this.” Mogar muttered, standing up again and walking away. X-Ray followed him, not wanting to look at it anymore.

Vav pulled a blanket off the sofa and covered ORF, probably as a sign of respect.

X-Ray went into the bedroom to try and find something like a hoodie or a jacket they could use. He just wanted to get out of the apartment as soon as he could after seeing that.

Mogar was stood in the doorway, his brows pinched together. His eyes flickered around the room, landing on the unkempt bed.

“Hmm.” Mogar walked forwards, digging around the sheets until he pulled out a separate piece of clothing. It looked like it was a shirt that they'd seen Hilda wear a few times. “This will do.”

“X-Ray,” Vav said, appearing in the doorway. “Something doesn’t feel right. Why is this place so clean but her office ruined?” He said.

“How should I know Vav? She was probably taken from her office this morning.” X-Ray said.

“No.” Mogar interrupted.  “No one has slept in this bed. The sheets are cold."

“So she was taken from her office last night.” Ash said, standing beside Vav and glancing around the bedroom. “She had to work late, did she?”

“No, she left Monarch labs last night.” X-Ray said. 

“Well, how do you know?” Vav asked, looking at him in confusion. X-Ray looked away stubbornly and muttered something.

“What was that?” Ash asked, folding her arms over her chest.

“The green one said he went to visit her last night and saw her out the building.” Mogar spoke up, looking at X-Ray with a look that mirrored Vav’s.

“Well, what were you doing there then?” Vav asked.

“We were hanging out.” X-Ray said defensively.

“At her office?” Vav raised an eyebrow.

“Look, we should really start looking for Hilda.” Ash spoke up, shooting X-Ray a look of sympathy. “But maybe we should go back to her office, ask the security guards if they saw anything.”

“That sounds smart.” Mogar said, still looking at X-Ray curiously.

“Great. Vav and I will go back to her office, X-Ray, you and Mogar can try and locate the Hole.”  Ash said, cringing at her own wording.

“Why do you have to say it like that?” X-Ray asked, cringing just as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how annoyed would people be if I ended the fic without them kissing? Asking for a friend...


	8. Tricky is The Mad King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I love you all, and because my GCSE results where good and I got into all the A-Levels I wanted, here's the next chapter

“Damn machine!” The Mad King shouted, hitting some contraption he was working on in anger.

“Have you checked the fuses?” Hilda asked lazily, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. She felt the Mad King’s glare on her and smiled.

“Are you done?” He asked, irritation thick in his voice.

“Have you tried turning it off and on again?” Hilda asked, a shit eating grin on her face.

“ _Yes_.” The Mad King replied.

“You should probably get someone to look at it then. Maybe it’s a hardware issue.” Hilda said, sitting up and looking at him. She was enjoying this much more than she should have.

“That’s why I kidnapped you!” He shouted, gesturing dramatically at her. “ _God I wish I had that key_.” He muttered under his breath.

“I thought I was bait.”

“You can have more than one purpose.” He said.

“Oh, _lucky_  me.” Hilda drawled, lying back down, one arm behind her head. “What are you even working on?”

“Why are you asking?” The Mad King replied, turning to look at her. Hilda shrugged.

“I’m bored in here. And I’m curious to know what can stump a mad genius.” She admitted.

The Mad King didn’t reply, he just went back to the machine. The silence was uncomfortable and tangible, but Hilda just distracted herself with counting the tiles on the ceiling.

"There we go." The Mad King said smugly, obviously having gotten over that hurdle. Hilda slow clapped and glanced over to see the Mad King's glare on her.

"Was it a hardware issue?" She asked smugly.

" _No_.” He drawled, holding something in his hand. He walked over to the glass wall between them and tapped something into a control panel beside the outline of the door.

The glass door opened mechanically and the Mad King stood in the doorway, holding whatever he had invented in his hand. Hilda looked at him, concern starting to swell in her chest. She stood up from the bed, her back to the wall, watching him.

“Come here.” The Mad King said, his grip on the device tightening. Hilda took a few, tentative steps forwards so they were face to face. She could have reached out and touched him if she wanted to.

All at once, the Mad King raised the device, aiming it at Hilda, but Hilda reacted just as quickly. She blocked his arm and managed to break his grip, catching the device before it fell.

Hilda immediately backed up, aiming the device at her captor. She expected some kind of reaction from the Mad King, some emotion to flicker across his face. She didn’t expect him to laugh.

“I can’t believe you fell for that twice.” He said, backing out of the room and shutting the door, sealing it with the passcode. Hilda watched him, confused. The Mad King lifted his other hand and showed her a small black box with a button.

Hilda watched as he pressed the button, laughing as the device activated, filling the chamber with a white gas. She dropped the device, bringing the collar of her shirt up to try and stop herself inhaling it.

Her vision began to blur and Hilda stumbled backwards, steadying herself against the wall. She felt herself sink to the floor, her mind getting as foggy as the room.

Hilda looked through the glass wall and saw two figures, watching her. The taller one she knew was the Mad King, but she couldn’t recognise the other.  They stood tall with a hood over their head and Hilda thought she saw a weapon peaking over their shoulder.

The last thing she heard before she passed out was maniacal laughter echoing in her ears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to everyone who's still reading this: I love you so much and you deserve good things to happen to you :3


	9. An Alliance Forged From Bickering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK I UPDATED  
> I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS  
> I LOVE YOU ALL

“God, how long does it _take_?” X-Ray complained. Mogar glared at him and stood up from his crouch.  His gaze was critical, as if he was examining X-Ray. The scent trail had led them to a forested area, not unlike where Mogar’s rebuilt treehouse stood. The foliage was so dense, it was difficult for light to reach them, so X-Ray was holding a torch as a mean to see. Mogar didn’t seem to have much of a problem with the lack of lighting.

“You care for her.” Mogar said. It was a statement.

“She’s okay.” X-Ray said, shrugging.

“You desire to be with her again.” Mogar said, watching the vigilante’s reaction carefully.

“I am not talking about this with you.” X-Ray said stubbornly.

“Are you mates?” Mogar asked his expression softening momentarily.

“Please tell me you’ve just been spending too much time with Vav and are using that in the British sense.” X-Ray said, turning away and shining the torch around some of the nearby trees.

“Your scent was on some of her clothes.” Mogar said. X-Ray stilled.

“Yeah, so? That doesn’t mean anything.” X-Ray said nonchalantly. “Can we just get on with this? This place is creeping me out.”

Mogar finally dropped it and walked further into the trees, following a scent only could could pick up on. X-Ray followed him, shining the light around them, constantly thinking he was seeing a figure that wasn’t there.

“How’s the tracking?” X-Ray asked, picking up the pace until he was beside Mogar. The forest around them was starting to give him the creeps (he’d played far too many horror games set in a forest). Mogar ignored him, now searching their surroundings for marks as well as following scent.

Mogar walked to an exceptionally large tree, studying the trunk of it. He still had the shirt clasped in one hand and ran the other over a few scratches that might have been coincidental, but from what they both knew about the Mad King; it was more likely a code of some kind.

“The trail ends here.” Mogar said, examining the tree. X-Ray looked at him in surprise and knocked his fist on the tree trunk. The sound reverberated and Mogar frowned.

“So, the tree’s fake.” X-Ray said, shining the torch on the tree. It looked convincing, but even X-Ray knew trees were solid.

Mogar made a noise that sounded like a grudging sound of agreement and pulled back his fist, punching the place where the symbols were.

The ‘ _trunk_ ’ buckled under Mogar’s fist but stayed in place. Mogar unsheathed his sword and lifted it above his head.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” X-Ray said, watching as Mogar slam the sword along the edge of the door that was gradually appearing.

“Opening the door.” Mogar replied shortly, putting all his weight onto the hilt of the sword, trying to pry the door off.

“Why don’t I have a try?” X-Ray said, gently guiding Mogar out the way and trying to blast the door off. It buckled further but stubbornly remained attached. X-Ray frowned at the door.

“Huh.” He muttered, glancing over at Mogar, who looked smug at the fact X-Ray plan didn’t work.

“Stand back. Mogar will do this.” Mogar said, puffing out his chest. He grasped the hilt of the sword and put all his strength against the sword again. The door had a hissing noise and all at once burst free of its hinges, flying out and nearly hitting X-Ray, and would have if Mogar hadn’t grabbed his cape and pulled him out of the way.

“Well that happened.” X-Ray muttered, standing back up. Mogar just shot him a look and sheathed his sword on his back again. He dropped the shirt on the ground beside the tree and turned his attention to the doorway.

“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been listening to Badlands by Halsey on repeat for the last few days.  
> I don't know what significance that has but I thank Halsey for this chapter tbh


	10. Into The Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, this story has gone _way_ off plan

The Hole was well-lit and a sterile white that reminded X-Ray of either a miserable hospital or a horror-game mental ward before all the blood was strewn about. Mogar padded through the corridors, one hand permanently on the hilt of the sword. X-Ray was half-convinced that he just wanted to flex his muscles impressively.

X-Ray walked behind Mogar, growing more and more frustrated by the lack of signs and how long it was taking Mogar to catch Hilda’s scent again.

Voices echoed down the bare corridors towards them and X-Ray grabbed Mogar by the hood, pulling them both into an empty storage room. As soon as X-Ray closed the door behind them, Mogar spun around, gripping the cape material around X-Ray’s throat, snarling menacingly.

“ _Do not do that again_.” Mogar growled.

“It was that or be caught, dumbass.” X-Ray replied, prising Mogar’s claws away from his neck. Mogar let go of him, watching him take a staggering step backwards.

“Mogar can fight them.” He said.

“And I don’t doubt that. But we need to be stealthy if we want to get to Hilda.” X-Ray said angrily.

“Mogar does not need stealth.” Mogar argued.

“Well we’re both down here, Bear-Man, so we need to be _quiet_.” X-Ray hissed. The footsteps grew closer and X-Ray shot a nervous look to the door. Mogar looked as if he was going to speak, so X-Ray quickly covered Mogar’s mouth with his hands and waited.

The few seconds it took for the footsteps to pass them and fade out again were the longest X-Ray had _ever_  experienced and he finally let go, taking a step backwards.

It was then that he realised his arm was scratched and bleeding.

“What the hell?” He would have shouted if they weren’t balls deep in their enemies hidden fortress.

“ _Never_  do that again.” Mogar said, stepping towards him threateningly. “Ever.”

“That may work on Vav, but right now I don’t care if I hurt your pride, we’re on a rescue mission.” X-Ray snapped, matching Mogar’s posture. He was still shorter than him, but he saw the change in Mogar’s eye: he didn’t expect X-Ray to stand up to him (not surprising considering their track record).

Mogar took a half step backwards, surprising X-Ray. Mogar _never_  backed down from a fight.

“Alright.” X-Ray said uncertainly. “Let’s go search some of the rooms.” He cracked open the door, peering down the hallway in both directions. He couldn’t hear anything, so he cautiously stepped out.

Evil henchmen didn’t suddenly flood the area, so X-Ray decided to take that as a good sign. Mogar followed him as they walked back up the hallway, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword.

They turned a corner and saw a single door at the end of the corridor. It looked like it was made of a denser metal than any other door they had passed and that set off alarm bells in X-Ray’s mind.

“Either that’s the exit, or that’s where she is.” He whispered, sidling up the door and trying to hear inside. He looked back at Mogar when he realised his hearing wasn’t good enough.

“There is breathing inside.” Mogar said, glaring at the door. Wait, not glaring? Was that his concentration face?

“What kind of breathing?” X-Ray asked. It took him a second to realise what a stupid question that was.

“It’s heavy.” Mogar said, tilting his ear towards the door. “They are alive.”

“It has to be Hilda.” X-Ray said, turning back to the door with a determined expression. Mogar’s face hardened and he drew his sword. “Wait, what are you doing?” X-Ray asked, looking at the sword with a sense of mild panic.

Mogar ignored him and placed the tip along the edge of the door, bracing himself.

“Be ready. Mogar will give you time. Get your mate and let me fight.” Mogar said, planting his back foot. X-Ray held back the groan of annoyance at the ‘ _mate_ ’ comment but readied himself.

“On three.” X-Ray said. “One, two-”

Mogar put all his weight against the sword and the lock on the door snapped, letting it swing open.

They had about a second and a half to celebrate before the lights turned red and alarms started blaring.

“GO!” Mogar shouted, immediately turned around and raising his sword, prepared to fight anyone off. X-Ray nodded and ran inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can practically _hear_ my future self rolling their eyes at how this story went


	11. Showdown

The inside of the room didn’t have the red blaring lights and he could see it clearly.

There was a large workbench along one wall that reminded X-Ray of Hilda’s, there was another door opposite him and there was a massive glass wall to his right.

He looked at the glass wall and saw a familiar figure on the floor behind it, sprawled out on the floor like they’d been thrown there.

“Hilda!” He accidentally shouted, running over to the wall. There was an outline of a door etched into it and a keypad next to that, but there wasn’t enough time.

X-Ray took a few steps backwards and blasted the wall with the highest beam he had installed in his glasses. He had never been more thankful for Hilda’s inventions when the glass shattered and he could run to her.

“Hilda. Hilda, get up.” X-Ray said, falling to his knees beside her and shaking her shoulder. She didn’t even stir and X-Ray felt a stab of panic in his chest.

He put his ear to her chest and felt her breathing. Relief flooded through him and he moved so he was crouched beside her.

“Please let this work, please let this work.” X-Ray muttered as he hooked his arms under Hilda’s legs and shoulders, hefting her into his arms and standing up. His legs were a bit shaky but he forced himself to leave the room.

Mogar was still there at the end of the corridor and he turned to look at them. He had a confused expression on his face and X-Ray realised the sudden lack of evil dudes trying to stop them.

“What’s going on?” X-Ray asked, shifting his grip on Hilda. She wasn’t exactly a feather.

“Mogar is not sure.” Mogar admitted, sheathing his sword. He looked at X-Ray holding Hilda and frowned. “Mogar will carry her. Do you have a weapon?” He said.

“Of course I have a weapon.” X-Ray said.

“Then let Mogar carry her.” Mogar said. “Mogar is stronger.”

X-Ray looked at him sceptically. He trusted Mogar enough to be left alone with him, and his arms were starting to ache (he _really_  needed to start lifting weights or something).

“Fine.” X-Ray relented, letting Mogar take Hilda from his arms. Mogar held her as if it was natural for him and required no effort. Her head lolled against his shoulder and Mogar adjusted his arm to accommodate. “Let’s go.” X-Ray said, determined now. They didn’t get this far to fail somehow. 

Mogar nodded and followed X-Ray back down the way they came. The alarms still blared and the lights were still red, but no one swarmed them, no one suddenly shouted for them to ‘ _FREEZE!_ ’, no one popped out of freaking nowhere and spooked the shit out of them.

X-Ray understood when they turned the corner and saw a figure stood at the end of the corridor, in front of the stairs that would take them back to the surface.

“Mad King.” Mogar growled. He looked as if he was going to instinctively go for his sword but realised he couldn’t.

“Oh, so you found her.” The Mad King drawled, standing casually, not at all surprised or phased. “I should give you more credit.” His gaze wandered over them, looking amused at their situation. “And how sweet: the knight in no armour is carrying the damsel.”

The Mad King’s gaze didn’t miss the way X-Ray tried to cover how those words affected him while Mogar’s glare strengthened.

Hilda stirred slightly. X-Ray wanted desperately to turn around and look at her, but he didn’t dare turn his back to the Mad King.

“ _X-Ray_ ,” Hilda muttered, her eyes fluttering as she regained consciousness. The Mad King’s eyebrow twitched upwards. _Interesting_.

“Green one, take her.” Mogar practically ordered, twisting his body so that he could gently place Hilda back in X-Ray’s arms. As soon as his arms were free, he unsheathed his sword and aimed it at the Mad King.

Hilda’s eyes opened slowly and her gaze fixed on X-Ray. It took her a few seconds to actually focus on him, though.

“How touching.” The Mad King said sarcastically. “But you can take her. She’s fulfilled her purpose.”

“What do you mean?” Mogar demanded, his grip on the sword never wavering.

“I _mean_ , she’s already done her job, Mogar. She’s helped with my plan. I have no need for her anymore. She's worthless to me now.” The Mad King said. “I don’t know how to make it any simpler, Mogar.”

“ _Why_  did you need her?” X-Ray asked, glaring at the Mad King.

“I needed her skills to help me complete my project.” The Mad King said. “Luckily, she didn't disappoint.”

“I didn’t help you.” Hilda said, her voice was groggy and weak but she still managed to sound indignant.

“Not willingly, maybe.” The Mad King said, holding up the device that he'd used to knock her out. “But it's still your handiwork that made Project Edgar a reality.”

“What the fuck is Project Edgar?” X-Ray asked, glancing towards Hilda.

“I don't know.” Hilda said, looking concerned. Mogar still glared at the Mad King, who shifted their gaze so they were making eye contact.

“When you know, Mogar, you’ll understand everything.” The Mad King said, looking straight at Mogar with a knowing look, as if he would understand.

“Why do you talk in riddles?” Mogar growled, his voice low and dangerous. 

“Because I'm distracting you, you moron.” The Mad King said simply. 

All at once they heard the sound of metal buckling behind them. Hilda looked over X-Ray shoulders and immediately turned back around. 

“We have to go. Now!” She shouted. “The place is collapsing!” 

Mogar immediately swung the flat of his sword towards the Mad King, trying to knock him out the way but the man just stepped to the side, gesturing for them to leave. X-Ray glared at him suspiciously, but Mogar took Hilda out of his arms and shoved X-Ray through the doors.

“Hold on.” Mogar said to Hilda, running after X-Ray up the stairs. Hilda nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. If she found the intimacy a bit uncomfortable, she sure as fuck wasn't going to say so when she could barely stand and they were running for their lives.

The sounds of metal imploding and support structures cracking was scary, to say the least and only spurred them on to run faster up the winding stairs to the surface.

X-Ray saw the dim light of the outside world and glanced behind him. He saw Mogar taking the stairs two of a time, carrying Hilda tightly.

“We're almost there!” X-Ray shouted behind him. He reached the door first and leaned back to pulled Mogar through.

As soon as all three of them were over the boundary, a metal shutter in the doorway slammed down, cutting them off from the inside. The sound echoed over the trees and they just stared at it in shock.

“Are you both okay?” Mogar asked, his chest heaving a little as he caught his breath. X-Ray looked up at him from where he was stood hunched forwards, surprised.

“Yeah.” X-Ray said, his gaze shifting to Hilda. “What about you, Hilda?”

“I’m fine.” She said.

“Can you stand?” Mogar asked Hilda.

“I think so.” She said, nodding. Mogar gently lowered her feet so they were on the ground and Hilda shakily got to her feet.

She let go of Mogar and X-Ray put his arms out towards her just in case. Hilda saw him and offered him a smile.

“How’d you even find me in there?” Hilda asked.

“Mogar tracked you.” X-Ray admitted.

“You did?” Hilda asked, looking at Mogar in surprise. Mogar just nodded solemnly. “Thank you, Mogar.”

“What is Project Edgar?” Mogar asked suddenly, looking at Hilda. He didn’t look hostile or angry; more curious.

“I really don’t know.” Hilda promised. Mogar nodded in understanding.

“We should leave.” X-Ray said, looking around them. He reached into a nearby shrub and retrieved the torch he’d stashed there and clicked it on. “Vav and Ash are probably still looking for you.”

“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” Hilda agreed. X-Ray looked at Mogar, but Mogar was looking back at the tree, his gaze raking over the metal hatch that locked them out. 

“You go. Mogar must know what the Mad King means.” Mogar said. 

“We don’t know where he’s gone.” Hilda said.

“Mogar can track him.” Was the last thing Mogar said before he took off at a sprint, disappearing between the trees as if he belonged to them.

They waited for a while to see if he would return, but the only thing that happened was the world darkened around them.

“Let’s go, Hilda.” X-Ray said, hesitantly putting his hand on her shoulder.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there goes the major plot point of the fic....
> 
> I have a feeling that the end is near


	12. Like Old Times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me making it up to you all  
> I started sixth form and it's really fun! Just _very_ tiring.
> 
> I do have something else in the works that I just want to polish up so this fic isn't the last of the hildray

For once in his life, X-Ray knocked on the door to Hilda’s workshop before he entered. Granted, he didn’t wait for her to invite him in, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

“Hey.” X-Ray said, choosing to hang around in the doorway. They hadn’t really spoken since that day, and none of them had seen Mogar since then. It was like he’d disappeared as suddenly as he arrived.

Hilda looked up at him and put down the pen she had in her hand.

“Hey.” She said.

“Just wanted to see if you were okay.” X-Ray said, striving for nonchalance.

“I haven’t been kidnapped again.” Hilda said with a dry humour. “By the way, I'm still a bit surprised you were able to actually carry me, what with how much you complained _last_  time you saved me.” She said, a sly smirk on her face.

“Just because I complain doesn't mean I'm not badass enough to lift you.” X-Ray said, feeling some of their old banter rise. “It's not my fault that you can't see that.”

“So I'm not supposed to read into the fact that you gave me to Mogar to carry?” Hilda asked, placing one hand on her hip and her smirk widened slightly.

“Hey, I'm strong enough to carry you, Hilda.” X-Ray promised, leaning against the door frame.

“Whatever you say, superhero.” Hilda said teasingly, turning back to her work. She picked the pen back up and made a few more notes on the paper she was writing on.

X-Ray took that as a challenge. He walked over to Hilda and quickly hooked his arms under her knees and around her torso, hoisting her off the ground. The pen clattered to the ground as Hilda threw her arms around X-Ray's neck for balance.

“X-Ray!” Hilda exclaimed. She felt laughter bubbling in her chest for some reason she hadn't pinned down.

“Admit it.” X-Ray said, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Admit that I'm strong.”

“X-Ray, put me down.” Hilda said, a small laugh escaping her. She turned her head to look at him and realised just how close they were.

“Admit it.” X-Ray said, his cocky smile covering the fact his heart was speeding up in his chest.

“ _Fine_. You're strong enough to carry me.” Hilda relented.

“I thought so.” X-Ray said smugly, putting Hilda back on solid ground. A few seconds passed before Hilda realised she still had her arms around his neck. Slightly embarrassed, Hilda stepped away, lowering her arms until they hung by her side.

“I, uh, realised I never said thank you.” Hilda admitted. “For rescuing me.”

“Well, I mean, I had _some_  help.” X-Ray admitted. Hilda leaned forwards and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, X-Ray.” Hilda said quietly. She stepped away again sheepishly. X-Ray ducked his head to try and disguise the pint tint across his face. He scratched the back of his head nervously, trying to put together a sentence that didn’t sound dorky.

“We never celebrated.” X-Ray said eventually. “You not being captured by the Mad King. We should.”

“Like what? What would we all do?” Hilda asked.

“Vav said something about this nice pizza place.” X-Ray said. “We could grab a slice tomorrow after your work.”

“That sounds nice.” Hilda said, honestly. X-Ray looked up and smiled at her. He hopped up on the workbench that somehow became _his_  spot and picked up the abandoned 8-sided Rubix cube.

Hilda was amused to see that it was almost solved. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~how many of you hate me for not updating regularly~~


	13. The Start of Something Beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This seems like a good place to wrap it all up.

“So tell me why Vav couldn’t make it, again?” Hilda said, trying and failing to keep the amusement out of her voice.

They were walking down the street, both of them licking ice cream cones that X-Ray had bought impulsively when they saw an ice cream stall that was still open that time of night. X-Ray’s was beginning to melt and beads were inching closer to his hand with every step they took.

He had already spilled some ice cream on the shirt he had changed into, just when they were walking.

“Rusty asked him to help with TPing Flynt Cole’s house.” X-Ray admitted, licking a bead of melted ice cream away from his skin.

“You didn’t want to help?” Hilda asked, eating some of her own ice cream.

“It was either eat pizza or spend the night with Rusty, Vav and a lot of toilet paper.” X-Ray said, shrugging. “Which one would you have picked?”

“Pizza.” Hilda said immediately.

“See? Not a difficult choice.” X-Ray said. “How’s ORF coming along?” He asked.

“It’s coming along.” Hilda admitted. “But I’ve had to build ORF from the ground up, so it could take a few more days.”

X-Ray nodded in understanding. He looked over at Hilda and molded his expression into one of curiousity and very mild concern.

“What?” Hilda asked, frowning at the sudden change in his expression. She was in the middle of lifting her hand to her face when X-Ray leaned his hand forwards and wiped off a small dab of ice cream from the corner of her mouth.

“You had something on your face.” X-Ray said.

“Thanks.” Hilda said. “You have something on your face too.” She said, keeping her expression serious.

“Huh? Where?” X-Ray said, beginning to lift his hand to wipe his face. Before she could, Hilda dabbed a blot of her ice cream on his chin. X-Ray moved his head back, startled while Hilda laughed. It only took a few seconds for X-Ray to recover and his expression became faux serious.

He waited for Hilda to sway slightly towards him and dabbed his own ice cream on her face. He’d intended to get her chin, but he’d missed and streaked some of the mint chocolate chip ice cream over her lips.

Hilda started, but she still had laughter in her eyes.

“I guess we’re even.” Hilda said, lifting her hand to wipe her mouth. X-Ray put his hand over hers, unconsciously stepping into her space.

“Allow me,” He said, gentlemanly. Hilda lowered her arm, her eyes flickering over his face and ending on his lips.

X-Ray felt his own breath hitch and he leaned towards her, stopping _just_  far enough away for Hilda to choose to kiss him back.

His arm looped around her back, holding her almost protectively and Hilda felt something inside her urge her forwards, convincing her to let him kiss her.

It was slow, and they were both hesitant about taking this new step, but they both swore the world ground to a halt. Birds froze in the air, people became statues, and the only thing _real_  was the feeling of the other person.

After an eternity, they broke apart. X-Ray still had his arm around Hilda, and their ice creams were slowly and steadily melting, but wide smiles broke out on both their faces.

Hilda reached up and finally wiped away the smeared ice cream on her face with the cuff of her sleeve.

“Minty.” She commented to herself. It was obvious that she hadn’t meant to say it outloud, but she had and X-Ray just _burst_  out laughing, needing to take a half-step backwards.

“Oh my God, you can be such a nerd.” X-Ray said, his voice thick with affection. Hilda shoved his shoulder playfully.

“You’re the nerd. It took you how long to kiss me?” She said half-defensively, quickly licking the ice cream that had melted so it didn’t reach her hand.

“It’s called being a _gentleman_ ; don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.” X-Ray said, doing the same to his own ice cream.

“Anything to save your pride.” Hilda teased, slipping her hand into X-Ray’s. He squeezed her hand and they started walking again, exchanging quips as easily as ever. The only thing that was different now was the tone in which they said them and the fact that walked just close to occasionally bump into the other.

 

Somewhere on a roof down the street, three bodies were camped out, each holding a pair of binoculars to their eyes and following the couple on the street.

“Fork it over, Vav.” Rusty said triumphantly, holding a hand out to Vav next to him. Vav reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar note, pressing it into Rusty’s hand. “You too, Ash.” He added, extending his arm towards the third person on the roof. Ash pushed the bill into his hand and Rusty pocketed them smugly.

“I really didn’t think he’d have the guts to do it.” Vav grumbled, going back to the binoculars. If he’d lied to X-Ray about why he had to cancel… Well, it had all worked out for the best in the end, so what did it matter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is, all done.
> 
> I want to say thank you to everyone who stuck with this story and to everyone who left a kudos or a lovely comment, because this was a journey (that went _way_ off course at one point), and I'm so happy you all had fun with me :D
> 
> You're all amazing

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [private-doughnut](http://private-doughnut.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to say hi :3
> 
> (if someone asks me nicely I'll probably continue this)  
> (or I'll continue this anyway shamelessly)


End file.
